In the wake of the election victory of right-wing populist Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, the Greens called for investments in future technologies and more social justice at their federal party conference. With a view to the success of the Islamophobic party in the neighboring country, Green party leader Omid Nouripour said in Karlsruhe that it was “painful to see what is happening there.”
He is very grateful to Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) that he has now announced a suspension of the debt brake for 2023. “Thank you very much for that!” said the co-chair. However, this is not sufficient for the necessary modernization of the country.
Agenda changed
Due to current events, the agenda for the four-day meeting was changed at short notice. On the first evening, the delegates want to discuss budget issues in a longer debate without a decision, under the heading “Responsibility for people: investing in prosperity, climate protection and justice”.
The party’s political director, Emily Büning, admitted that there is still a lot going on on this issue. But the party is very interested in discussing it.
Foreign Minister Baerbock speaks about the Middle East conflict
A motion from the Federal Executive Board entitled “Solidarity with Israel: For Peace, Against Hatred and Terror” is also scheduled to be voted on on Thursday. A speech by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and contributions from two external speakers are expected on the Middle East conflict. Speeches by randomly drawn delegates, as is usual with the Greens, are not planned for this agenda item. It is important that there is a “sign of solidarity with Israel, also a clear sign on the issue of anti-Semitism,” said Büning. It was decided “not to make any further contributions to the debate”.
A debate on migration policy originally scheduled for Thursday evening was postponed until late Saturday evening due to the change in the schedule.
The 825 Green Party delegates also want to fill the six-member federal executive board and other committees by Sunday. The co-chairs, Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour, are both running again.
A program is to be adopted in Karlsruhe and a list of candidates drawn up for the European elections next June. The motto of the party conference is “Do what counts”.
